Tony's Story
by WolfE Cat
Summary: Tony's father is a mob boss, and he must go on an undercover op to bring him down. Everyone thinks he died, but did he really? TATE, some JIBBs
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

11 months, 29 days ago

"Grab your gear. DiNozzo,-

"Gas the truck." Tony got up and left.

"McGee-"

"Get Ducky." Gibbs was interrupted again as McGee also left.

"Kate?" he made this intentionally sound like a question, testing her.

"Uhhhhh, Get the map?" she was unsure.

"Yeah, and?"

"Get you another coffee?"

In way of an answer, he threw his current cup away.

"On it boss."

Fifteen minutes later, they were speeding towards an old warehouse, apparently a dead body in a sailors uniform had been found there. They all got out and immediately went to work, Kate taking witness statements and sketching the scene, Tony taking pictures, McGee collecting evidence.

"I'm sorry." Tony whispered to himself. "I don't want to do this."

Tony finished and announced that he would go inside the warehouse and see if there was anything there. They all nodded absentmindedly, unaware of what was to come.

If only. If only they had been aware, if only they had swept the building first, if only they had arrived a minute later, if only Tony had done a more thorough job. Maybe, if any of these things had happened differently, what happened next would have been nothing more than a minor setback.

BOOM.

The team looked up in surprise as the warehouse exploded in flames.

"Tony…"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 1

Yesterday

The man woke and wearily rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. He slipped his legs over the bed and sat there, willing himself to gain the resolve to get up and get moving. His brain wouldn't cooperate. At first, it had been easy. He kept himself going with the thought of how great it would be to go home, get out of this hell. But, as the days turned into weeks and the weeks into months he slowly lost hope until it was a daily struggle just to get out of bed. He sighed, then slowly pushed himself onto his feet. He shuffled towards the fridge and grabbed a Mountain Dew. He had given up coffee due to the fact that it reminded him too much of his old job. He had tried to give up all the things that reminded him of his old life, but to no avail: almost everything he saw, heard, tasted, and felt reminded him of home.

Finally, he was dressed in his normal black dress shirt with the top few buttons undone and a white T-shirt underneath, jeans, and black loafers.

He shut and locked the door to his small apartment in the compound, then turned down the mazelike corridors, deftly making his way towards the work area, preparing himself for another day of running surveillance.

"Tony!"

Tony wheeled around. "Jimmy! What's up?" Tony saw excitement on his brother's face.

"Papa wants to see you. Immediately."

Tony wanted to stay as far away as possible from his father, but around here, his word was law.

"Lead the way."

He followed his brother far into the West wing of the compound, much farther than he had ever been. His curiosity, and hope, was piqued.

They stopped in front of a set of large oak doors. Jimmy punched in a code on the pad, then put his hand on a scanner. The doors swung inward silently on well-oiled hinges. Tony stepped forward warily.

"Tony, m'boy. Come here."

Tony immediately recognized the booming voice of his father.

"Papa." His father was sitting in a large oak chair, flanked on either side by his other four brothers: Tommy, Gregory, Jonny, and Stevey. He knew that something was up, not only were they all there, but they were all smiling. He walked in front of the little ring and Jimmy took his place on his father's right.

"Do you know how long you've been here, Tony?"

"No, sir." They seemed to have made an effort to hide time in this place; there were no clocks, calendars, anything with a date or time had been removed. You woke up when the lights came on, went to bed when they turned off.

"It has been almost a year."

Tony was shocked. A year?

"Do you know what that means?"

Tony shook his head.

"It means you passed. You haven't tried to run, contact the outside world, done anything to betray our trust. You're trustworthy, boy."

Tony's heart leapt. Maybe he could get the evidence he needed. Maybe he could go home. He allowed himself to smile.

"Thank you, sir."

"Jimmy here will lead you to your new quarters and tell you your new duties. Welcome back, Son."

"Thank you, Papa." Tony turned to go.

"Oh, and Tony?"

"Yes, Papa?"

"Would you like to see the outside world again?"

"I would like to very much, Papa."

"Hmmm. Well, we'll see."

Tony followed Jimmy out the doors and around the corner, trying not to show his excitement. Jimmy lead him down a carpeted, wood-paneled hallway which he assumed was the place where the rest of the family slept. Jimmy stopped abruptly next to a door that resembled the one to the last room.

"Here we are."

Tony opened the door to an apartment that screamed luxury. There were plush carpets, expensive paintings, antique furniture, the works. Tony looked around in amazement.

"A step up, huh, bro?"

"No kidding…"

Tony's stuff was already in the closets. Of course, he thought wryly. His family was like that.

"Hey, little bro. You can check this stuff out later. Right now, Papa wants me to show you the work place."

Tony nodded. He was glad that Jimmy was going to show him his new job. Jimmy had always been his favorite brother. Gregory was the eldest, then Tommy, Jonny, Stevey, Jimmy, and Tony. Jimmy and Tony were only about a year apart, but there was a 5-year gap between Jimmy and Stevey. Tony's father wanted six sons, and he kept getting their mom pregnant until he had them. As a result, Tony also had six sisters: Julie, Jill, Kristen, Claire, Abigail, and Sally. The girls were also living here, though Tony was unsure as to what they did.

Tony followed his brother to a large room filled with computer gear. With a pang of sadness, he realized that it greatly resembled MTAC, just with multiple screens instead of just one.

"Alright. So, this is your computer, here." Jimmy pointed to a console that rivaled Abby's. "Every morning, at 8 o'clock sharp, you will find a list here that outlines your job for the day. You can go home when you finish, unless Papa tells you otherwise.

"For today, we need to do a routine backup of all files. Upload them to a disc, then put that disc into that filing cabinet, over there. We do one once a week."

Tony couldn't believe his luck. How easy would it be just to make another copy? He nodded to his brother.

"Then you can go home."

"Wonderful. I'll get right on it."

"Cool. I'll see you in a bit."

Tony eagerly logged on, then went into documents. He clicked on the one at the top.

He couldn't believe it. He was in shock. Absolute shock. Here was a list of all known affiliates. Next was a list of finances. Next was a record of all jobs done in the past ten years. He had done it! All he needed to do was click two copies instead of one, and he was out!

He slipped the disc into the top part of his jeans, then took the other one into the filing cabinet, as told.

That done, he went home. Could this day get any better?

Hell yes it could.

There was a note taped to the inside part of his door that read:

_Tony,_

_You will be allowed out tonight to spend a night on the town. Be at the front gate at 7. Lateness will mean loss of privilege._

He looked at the new clock on the wall. 3 o'clock. He decided to watch tv, maybe that would pass the time. He couldn't concentrate, though, and time seemed to stop. After what seemed like hours, he looked at the clock again. 3:30. He gave a groan of frustration and resigned himself to the longest three hours of his life.

Finally, he looked at the clock again. 6:30. Yes! Its time!

Quickly, he got his stuff together. He double-checked his appearance, making sure he looked like he was doing nothing more than going out temporarily. At 6:45, he left, winding his way through the corridors, making his way to the gate. Once there, he was approached by a large man in a black suit who handed him a wallet, cell phone, and set of keys.

"Be back by midnight." Was all he said. Tony nodded and ventured into the parking lot. Pushing the button on the keys experimentally, he goggled at the bright red Ferrari that responded. It was too bad he was going to have to give it up.

He got behind the wheel and fired it up, loving the comfy seats, the roar of the engine. He zoomed through the countryside, laughing at the feeling that he was finally free.

He saw a sign that said now entering Washington D.C. and slowed down. He drove through the streets aimlessly, checking if he had a tail. He did. Of course he did. Now glad of all his Special Agent training, he watched for the perfect opportunity.

Aha! Up ahead, there was a light that had just turned red. He zoomed and watched satisfactorily as the tail car was forced to stay behind the wave of fresh cars.

Now what do I do? He asked himself. He was sure there was probably a GPS chip in the car, probably the cell phone, maybe the wallet. As he thought, a plan formed. He headed downtown, towards where he used to go to clubbing. He stopped in front of his old favorite club and parked. He got past the bouncers and found a random drunk dude.

"Here, take this. Go have fun" Tony shouted, shoving the wallet, keys and cell phone into the guys hands, then ran out the back door. Looking around, he found a generic car and hotwired it. He felt sorry for the guy who owned it, but he felt his need was greater. He checked the dashboard clock, 8:30. Perfect. He sped towards his old HQ. Parking, he leapt out and ran towards the security office.

"I need to speak to the director now."

"I'm sorry, sir, but I can't do that. We can't let a stranger talk to her."

Tony sighed in frustration. He had expected this. "Fine. Can you call her? Tell her it's a national security matter. Tell her Zydeco."

The security man looked at him strangely before shrugging and dialing.

"Director Shepard."

"Excuse me, Ma'am. There is a man here who insists that he talk to you. He told me to tell you Zydeco?"

The director almost dropped the phone. "A-are you sure he said zydeco?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Keep him there. I'll be right down"

The man looked in confusion at the phone. "Uhhh, she'll be right down."

"Thank you." Tony didn't have to wait long at all.

"Tony?" He heard her voice before she burst through the door.

"Director!"

"Tony, oh I'm so glad you're okay." The redhead exclaimed before she ran to him and hugged him. Startled, he awkwardly put his arms around her.

"I've got it director. But, we need to move fast, before they can leave."

"Of course. Come on up to my office."

He followed her to the elevator and up into her private office. Wordlessly, he handed her the disc and she put it into her computer. She too goggled at its contents.

"Tony, this is incredible. What happened?" He recounted his entire story, from the day he was 'killed' to 10 minutes ago.

"I'm so sorry, Tony. Nobody should have had to go through with that. That being said, do you want to go watch me catch those SOB's?"

Tony smiled. "Hell, yes!"


	3. Chapter 3

Hey Guys!

This is my first fic. Don't know if that means anything, but just thought you should know.

I wont ask for any amount of reviews before I update. Somebody at sometime in the future will come along and read it.

Yeah, so I'm not sure where I'm going to go with this, if you have any suggestions let me know.

DISCLAIMER: Dammit, where did I put those ownership rights?

Lastly, really sorry if this resembles a story of yours, totally unintentional. No plagiarism intended.

Enjoy!

Chapter 2

Today

Kate Todd cried on her way to work. Today was the one year anniversary of his death. She tried to get there really early in the hopes that she could throw herself into her work and forget that he wasn't there. She checked and reapplied her makeup before getting out and walking towards the security gate.

"You're here early, Ms. Todd."

"Yeah, John. Busy, Busy, Busy."

"Have a good day, Ms. Todd."

"You too." With that, she got past security and headed to the elevator and rode up to the bullpen. She noticed that a man was standing next to Tony's old desk. Just standing and staring.

Well, that's odd, she thought.

"Sir? Can I help you?"

Tony whirled around and smiled sheepishly at her.

"Uhhh, Hi, Kate."

Kate stopped dead in her tracks. She stared. And stared. Finally, she pinched herself hard enough that the pain would wake her up if she was dreaming. That test having failed, she turned back around and took the elevator back down to Abby's lab. She walked in and sat down underneath Abby's desk, drew her knees up to her chest, and started rocking back and forth, all the while letting silent tears flow down her cheeks.

10 minutes later, Abby walked in.

"Kate! What's wrong?!"

"T-Tony………"

Of course! Abby mentally smacked herself. She should have known the year death-i-versary would hit Kate really hard. She sat down next to Kate and held her as she cried.

Kate was convinced that her mind was playing tricks on her. How could it be him? Ducky did his autopsy, she saw him go into the warehouse, he's dead. Her mind was cruel.

Upstairs, Tony was frantic. Where did she go? He racked his brains. Of course! He ran down the stairs towards Abby's lab.

"Kate? Kate!" he burst through the doors. Abby turned around slowly. There was no way, was there?

"TONY!" She hugged him so hard, he thought his ribs might break.

"How the hell-"she started but then stopped at the look of intense concern on his face.

"Kate, are you okay?"

Kate was thoroughly confused. The way she saw it, there were three options. First, she was dreaming. Second, she was hallucinating. Third, he was actually alive. She knew she wasn't dreaming, her hair trick from before proved that. Since Abby seemed to be seeing him as well, she couldn't be hallucinating. Who was it that said that when you eliminate all other possibilities, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the solution?

"Tony?" She slowly walked towards him. Reaching him, she ran her hands over his chest, poking and prodding. "You're not a hallucination."

He laughed softly. "No, no I'm not."

Without warning, all the pain, sorrow, and grief she had felt over the past year morphed into anger. She hit him, hard.

"Do- THUD

"You-THUD

"Realize-THUD

"What-THUD

"I've-THUD

"Been-THUD

"Through! THUD THUD THUD.

"Kate, the president called- I had to- please…"

Kate stopped short.

"What?"

"I guess I kinda deserved that. I never wanted any of this, Kate. I'm so sorry. Please, just let me explain. See, about a week before I was 'killed', I got this anonymous call from a person who told me… who told me you were hurt and to go to this place to help you. So I did and kinda got kidnapped by Secret Service who took me to the president.. the freakin' president Kate.. he told me that my father the mob boss, see my grandfather was a mafia boss in Italy and my father carried on the family tradition, one of the main reasons I went into law enforcement, well anyway, he had now grown to a very high national security status and he needed to be brought down. He thought I should do it. So I called them, told them, told them,… told them bad things. They staged my death, and I went to work for them. After I got to the top, I collected the evidence and hightailed it. Last night, I got here about 8:30 and the director staged a takeover and we busted their asses then I crashed on her couch and now I'm here." He finished his ramble and looked at them expectantly. "Uh…so… yeah." He finished lamely.

Kate couldn't decide what she should say. Should she comfort him, or ask for details, or what?

She was saved by the loud, gruff voice of her boss.

"Abby…Abs.. Is Kate down here?"

Gibbs walked through the door, coffee and caff-pow in hand.

"Hi boss!"

Gibbs stopped and turned on his heel.

"DiNozzo. You're dead."

"I assure you, I am very much alive."

Gibbs walked up to him and head-slapped him.

"Oww, boss! What was that for?"

"Yep. It's you. Explain."

"Can I please, please, please wait for Ducky and McGee? It's a bit of a long story."

Gibbs looked at him.

Tony sighed and recounted his story. Gibbs listened attentively, but when Tony told the part involving the Director his eyes flashed with an anger that Tony had come to realize as pre- head slap. He was unsure why his boss looked that way but shrugged it off.

Gibbs turned on his heel wordlessly and stalked.

"So Kate, What did I miss?"

"Ummmm, you know, same old same old."

"A whole year and you've got nothing to tell me?"

Kate was saved from answer by Ducky coming in.

"Hey, Ducky. Long time no see."

Ducky stared at Tony. "I did your autopsy, m'boy."

"No, actually that was another Tony DiNozzo."

"Teeth don't lie."

"They made a copy of my teeth and stuck them in the head of another man."

"Sounds like you have a right good story to tell, young man. You know, this reminds me of a story…"

Ducky rambled on as Kate leaned over to whisper in Tony's ear: "Count on Ducky to have a story about the dead coming back to life."

Tony laughed. "Yeah. I missed his stories. I missed you, I missed Abby, McGee, everyone, everything. Hell, I think I even missed Gibbs' head-slaps. It was hell over there, Kate."

She gave him a hug and buried her face in his neck."I missed you too."

A/N:I did not want to end it there, but If I didn't I probably wouldn't update for the next… a long time.

[Type text]


	4. Chapter 4

**Yay! I posted again. Personal accomplishment! **

Gibbs was angry. No, Gibbs was furious.

"Jen!" he yelled, busting through the doors. Jenny sighed. She knew this was coming. "Yes, Jethro, I knew there was a possibility that he was alive. I did not know for sure."

"You could've told me, Jen." He fumed.

"He is my agent!"

"I know that, Jethro. Please calm down."

"No I will not calm down, Jen! My agent just came back from the dead!"

"I realize that, Jethro. I really, truly am sorry."

"Why the hell didn't you tell me?!"

"Because it was better for you to think that he was dead. In all probability he wouldn't come back."

"You sent him out there to die?"

"Possibly, though that was not what I meant." The Director sighed. "Once people go into these things, Jethro, they usually can't come out. I hoped it was different for Tony, being family and all, and I guess I was right." She attempted a smile, but only managed a sort of grimace. Gibbs felt anguished to have to watch her like this, but all was not forgiven, yet.

"You still should have told me, Jen."

"I had direct orders from the President."

Gibbs grunted. "Damn politics." And stormed out.

Downstairs, Tony had just finished telling his story to McGee and Ducky.

"Abby?" a foreign female voice called. "Do you know where everyone is?"

Tony looked questioningly at Kate. Kate looked away sheepishly. All those present suddenly found something better to do.

"Abby, what on dirt is going on?"

Tony was extremely confused now. Who was this strange woman? What did she do here? Why did her presence make everyone so uncomfortable? And, _why___did she just say "what on dirt"?

"Abby, Kate, McGee, Ducky, will somebody please tell me what is going on?" Tony asked. The woman startled. She hadn't seen him.

"Who are you?" she questioned.

"I was about to ask you the same question." They stared at each other.

"Ummmmm, Tony, this is Ziva. Ziva, this is Tony." Kate interjected. She leaned up to whisper in his ear. "Tony, don't make her mad. Mossad assassin. She can kill you many ways with nothing but a paperclip.

"18 ways, to be exact." Ziva corrected with a smirk. Her expression turned serious. "Tony, Tony…"

You could almost see the cogs turning in her head. Then they clicked. She started to talk very fast and animatedly. "But this is impossible, no? He is dead, yes? That is why I am here, yes?"

"Ziva, Ziva, calm down! Tony has a story. Yes, he seemed to have died. But, he didn't. He was on an op. He's alive."

"Um, okay. Great." Awkward silence ensued.

"Wait a minute, what did you mean, 'that is why I am here?'" Tony broke the silence.

"Tony, Ziva is your… replacement." Kate said the last word so quietly, Tony barely heard her.

"Oh."

"Awkwaaard." Abby said.

Gibbs stormed in. "DiNozzo, come with me!" He half-yelled. Tony reluctantly followed, mouthing "help" to the room before disappearing around the corner.

He hurried into the elevator after Gibbs. Inevitably, the emergency switch was flicked. "You shouldn't have done that."

"Um, done what, Boss?"

"Left."

"Believe me, I didn't want to."

"Yeah. Well, its good to have you back." The older man muttered gruffly. Tony knew that was as good as he was going to get.

"Its good to be back."

"Yeah, well. Do you want a job?"

The question startled Tony. "Of course, Boss."

Gibbs nodded and let the elevator run again.

Tony was, yet again, confused. Was Gibbs offering, or what? Oh well, after all these years, he had learned just to go along with it. At these thoughts he grinned.

"Why are you smiling, DiNozzo?"

"Smile. It makes people wonder what you're up to."

WHACK.

Tony sighed and rubbed his head. "It's so good to be back."

Gibbs glared at him. Luckily, Tony was saved by the 'ding!' of the elevator as it stopped. The Director's floor? Tony wondered to himself. How could I have messed up so soon?

As usual, Gibbs burst through the doors without knocking. Jenny looked up from the file she was reading. "Yes, Jethro?" she asked exasperatedly, though a smile tugged at her lips.

"I want him back."

"As an agent?"

"No, Jen, as a personal trainer. What the hell do you think I want him for?"

"What about Ziva?"

"I want them both. They're both damn good agents."

"Hmmm, well. I suppose since most of the new recruits were let go, I guess I have an opening. Do you want your job back?" She directed the question at Tony.

"Well, yeah!" Tony replied with an emphatic wave of his head.

Jen reached behind her desk and pulled out a huge stack of papers.

"Here's all you'll need to start a new life."

Tony looked warily at the papers. "There's got to be a million pages in there."

"You've come back from the dead, Tony. It takes a lot to rebuild what was lost."

The younger man reached out his hand. "Fine." He whined.

"By the way, there really is everything in there. I would get it done."

"Yes, Director. Thank you."

"You can go."

The two men turned and left.

"Oh, and by the way, you guys have an unofficial day off. Reunion time."

Tony looked behind and grinned. "Thanks Director!" The older man didn't acknowledge the words and kept going.

Still bearing his 100- watt smile, Tony hopped down to the bullpen. Kate was already there. He stopped at his desk. "I guess this isn't mine anymore, huh?" he asked Kate. She came up behind him and put her hands on his shoulders, turning him so he was staring in the direction of Gibbs' desk.

"Huh?" he asked again, this time in confusion. The desks were arranged in a sort of u- shape. What he assumed to be Ziva's desk was up against the left wall, behind Gibbs, and the old partition had been removed.

"We couldn't stand to give up your desk at the time of your death. So, we rearranged things a little bit. We left your desk exactly the way it was, except we took out the food. We were going to clean it out today."

"Exactly the way it was?" Kate nodded. "Alright!" he reached in one of the drawers, reemerging with a change of clothes. One question, though: who's 'we'?"

"Abby and I. And, yes, we saw your boxers. Your _pink_ boxers." Tony searched the drawers frantically. He heard a woman's laugh and looked up in horror. The boxers in question were dangling from the end of a pencil.

"Give me those!" he growled and lunged after her. Kate squealed in laughter and ran away. He chased her around and around the bullpen. All the other agents were staring, unable to take their eyes off the laughing pair. Finally, Kate ran into an open elevator that somebody had called, but not entered. Tony ran in behind her just as the doors slid shut. He hit the emergency stop.

"Neither of us are leaving until you give me those."

"No."

"Gimme!" he yelled, launching himself at her.

"No!" He landed on her back, but she stretched her arms out forward so he couldn't reach, still laughing hysterically. They stayed like that, their laughter slowly dying. Kate could feel his muscled chest rippling behind her. This wasn't what bothered her though. What bothered her was the fact that nothing bothered her. It felt so right, and that scared her. She looked behind her and into his eyes. Kate had never thought that she saw anything in Tony. He was a sexist playboy pig. But, in his eyes, she saw something that almost made her change her mind. It couldn't be what she thought it was, though.

"Here. We should get back to work." She said, handing him his boxers. Tony sighed, separating himself from her. "Yeah. I guess so." He flicked the switch and the doors opened again. The two walked out solemnly and back to their respective desks.

Gibbs watched the chase and their reemergence upstairs with Jenny.

"Dammit! Haven't I told them? Haven't I warned them?"

"Jethro! Calm down! First of all, you don't know if anything happened-"

"Of course something happened! Did you see them-"

"Let me finish, Gibbs." The redhead said coldly. "You don't _know_ if anything happened. They could've just realized that they made a fool of themselves in front of the whole agency." She smirked at the idea. "Secondly, even if something did happen, they're not stupid. It may not end in sadness. Thirdly, _it's none of your goddamn business."_ Gibbs glared at her. She glared right back. Eventually, he smirked.

"You learn well, Jen."

"I learned a lot from you, Jethro."

He smiled as her words brought back memories from long ago. He looked at her lips, wondering what would happen if he kissed her again. He almost took a step towards her before shaking himself from his reverie and walking out soundlessly.


	5. Chapter 5

Kate sighed. She had a running debate in her head that was not going the way she wanted it to.

'Though, you could argue that we are both you, so at least part of you wants this debate to go the way it is.'

'Shut up! I do not like Tony. He is a sexist playboy pig!'

'But he also has a lot of integrity and moral values, he is kind, caring, surprisingly romantic, and he is totally hot.'

'Ha, ha, he is, isn't he…' Rational Kate shakes herself. Lovestruck Kate laughs. 'I do not like Tony.'

'I do.'

'Do not!'

'Do too!'

'Do not!'

'Do too!'

Kate sighed again. This was getting nowhere.

'I guess none of it matters, though. He doesn't feel the same. End of story.'

Meanwhile, Tony was reacquainting himself with his computer. Suddenly, the computer beeps and says

"You have mail!"

Tony jumps backwards and cries out in surprise. The whole team laughs.

"Ok, somebody, please tell me that my computer did not just talk to me."

"McGee rigged them all to say that and keep saying that every 15 minutes until you open them. Something about the Director mad at Gibbs for never answering his e-mail. And, of course, if his has to say that, ours do too." Kate explained, still chuckling.

"Make it stop!" Tony whined.

"No." Gibbs said. The finality in his voice left no room for discussion.

Tony opened the offending e-mail.

_Tony,_

_Where are you staying tonight?_

_Kate_

Tony was surprised to realize that he had absolutely no idea.

_Kate, _

_I don't know._

_Tony_

The robotic voice announcing mail rang out again.

Kate started another inner battle upon reading the e-mail.

'_Let him stay at your place!'_

'_No! Nothing good can come of it.'_

'_What the hell are you talking about? At the very least, you friendship will be strengthened. Maybe something more…'_

'_That is exactly why I am using my power of veto to say NO!'_

'_Power of veto? What do you think this is, the government?'_

'_Shut up!'_

Irrational Kate won.

_Tony,_

_Do you want to stay at my place? I've got a spare bed._

_Kate_

Tony was shocked. There was no way that Kate, his Kate would volunteer her spare bed. Oh well, he

thought. Never look a gift horse in the mouth.

_Kate, _

_I would love to._

_Tony_

"DiNozzo! Todd! If you want to talk, go somewhere else!" Kate and Tony chuckled softly to themselves before getting up and walking towards the elevator. As usual, they rode it down between floors and stopped it.

"So, Kate," Tony began hesitantly, "Do you really not mind me staying at your place?"

"No, I guess I don't. As long as you behave."

"Scout's honor, Kate." He said with and exaggerated version of the oath.

"Then you're welcome to stay. I probably have some old clothes that you can wear for tonight, then maybe we can go shopping tomorrow."

"Great. Thanks, Katie."

For once, she didn't mind the nickname. He said it with such sincerity and kindness that she rather liked it. Both parties were painfully aware of the cramped elevator quarters, but neither seemed to mind.

'If you were ever going to kiss him, now would be the time.' Kate thought. She found herself inching towards him. To her great surprise, she found him doing the same thing.

'Oh, hell.' Tony smirked. 'Here goes nothing.' Then he kissed her. It was gentle and soft, questioning. Kate decided to answer his question and fervently pushed back. Tony deepened the kiss, sliding his tongue along her lips. They both felt all the tension and awkward feelings that had built up over the years slide out.

"Okay. That was… new." Kate said uncertainly.

Tony smirked. "Come on Kate! You have to admit that was amazing."

"Yeah. It was."

Tony flicked the switch. "Wait, Tony!"

"What, Kate?" He asked, once again stopping the elevator.

"Gibbs' Rules."

"Yeah, Kate, so?"

"So? So! Gibbs'll fire us!"

"Yeah, right. He won't fire you. You have nothing to worry about. Plus, if you go, I'll go too, so we'll pick up our welfare checks together." Tony cracked a smile.

"Really? You would do that for me?"

"Yeah, Kate. I would."

"Thank you. That means a lot to me, cliché as that sounds." Then, almost as an afterthought, "I would too."

Tony kissed her again. It was a while before they broke apart.

"You owe me twenty bucks." Abby turned to McGee. He forked over the cash.

"I can't believe that they are already got together. I mean, It's been what? Five hours? Six? Come on!"

"Hacking into the security cameras was the best idea I ever had."

A/N Sorry for the shortness. It seemed like a good ending. Also, my computer wouldn't let me align some of the paragraphs so sorry if that happened on here.


	6. Chapter 6

"Tony, director. Now. Go."

Tony gulped. There was no way this could be good news. He was sure he had exhausted his supply already.

"Yes boss." With a nervous feeling, he ascended the steps and knocked on the door.

"Come in. Hello, Tony. How was your first day back at work?"

"Um, fine?" Tony was unsure as to her intent and made it sound like a question. The director laughed.

"There is no need to be nervous, Tony. You aren't in trouble."

"Well, whatever it is it has to be bad, doesn't it?"

"Oh really? Why's that?"

"So much good has happened to me today. I can't still be lucky. You're going to tell me that you're sorry, I can't work here anymore, it's not in the budget or something. Or Gibbs is going to fire me-"

"Why would Gibbs fire you?"

Tony turned red and looked away in embarrassment. "Umm, no reason director." He mumbled.

The woman chuckled quietly. "No, Tony. That is not why you're here. See, when you 'died', NCIS was responsible for your belongings, seeing as how you didn't seem to have a next of kin. We sold it all, and I put it in a special bank account under my name in case you ever came back. I transferred it to you today." Tony took the proffered paper, and his eyes popped out of his head.

"T-Thanks director, ma'am. But my stuff couldn't have cost that much."

"I think the president put a nice little bonus in there for you." She smiled, then said: "You can go apartment shopping with Kate tomorrow. Or, maybe not?" Her smile was knowledgeable.

Tony sighed. "Gibbs knows too, doesn't he?"

"Yes."

"How?"

"You know how Abby and McGee are when they get bored."

"Don't tell me they hacked into the security cameras." Tony sighed and shook his head as she nodded.

"Will he fire me?"

"I don't know. But, I'm pretty sure that he won't."

"Okay." Then, "Oh, Crap! Kate! She's been alone with Gibbs all this time! I've gotta go!" He started to run out the door, calling "Thanks, Director!" over his shoulder as he sprinted down the steps.

"Go save your woman, DiNozzo." The director kept smiling as she turned back to her paperwork.

The man in question arrived, breathless, at their section of the bullpen.

"You fire her, and I go too."

Gibbs looked up in anger. "I have my rules for a reason, DiNozzo." The older man stated coldly.

"Screw your rules, Gibbs." Everyone was surprised to hear Kate say this, even Gibbs. She got up and walked to Tony's side. "Life is too short."

"He didn't give you too much trouble, did he?" Tony whispered in Kate's ear.

"No, I think he was waiting for you. He didn't stop glaring at me, though." She whispered.

"She goes, I go too." Tony asserted. "And don't give her a hard time."

"I had no intention of firing either of you." The silver-haired man got up and walked to them, coming to a stop right behind Tony. Tony received the hardest head-slap of his career so far. It actually made him double over in pain, holding the back of his head.

Kate was furious. "Tony, are you okay?" she asked, though rather coldly. Not trusting himself to speak, he merely nodded. She looked up at Gibbs, and was further infuriated to see a smug smile on his face.

Wordlessly, she walked up to Gibbs. She had a fire in her eyes that would make most people run for cover. Gibbs was unfazed, maybe because he didn't think she would actually do anything, maybe because he didn't think that, whatever it was, it wouldn't be bad.

Kate pulled her arm back and head-slapped Gibbs with everything she had. And, it was a lot.

"You had absolutely no right to do that. Tony did absolutely nothing wrong. I like him, he likes me. We are both capable, competent adults who can choose for themselves who they want to be with. And I choose Tony." With that, she pulled Tony into a passionate kiss. He was shocked at first, but quickly responded. She pulled away all too soon, then looked at their boss, defiance in her eyes. He matched her glare, with equal anger. They would have stayed like that, except for the laughter and applause that was ringing throughout the bullpen. They looked around to find Tony, Ziva, Abby, Ducky, Palmer and even McGee clapping, while the laughter was coming from Jen on the balcony. Gibbs took one look at the redhead and stormed upstairs.

"Good for you, Kate. Somebody needed to show him." Abby hugged her then pulled McGee along, muttering something that sounded suspiciously like 'hacking', 'Director', and 'camera'.

"Bravo, Caitlin. Brava, I should say. I have worked with that man for many years, and no one has ever stood up to him. Good for you." He turned around, placed a file on Gibbs' desk, and left with Palmer right behind him.

"Thank you, Katie. That was really cool. Totally the hottest thing you've done, ever." She pulled him into a hug.

"How's your head?"

"Fine, Kate. Just fine."

Gibbs burst through the doors even harder than usual. He stood over Jen's desk, silently fuming.

Jen looked up in amusement. "Yes, Jethro?" she asked, as if she didn't know perfectly well why he was there.

He still silently fumed.

"They're not stupid, Jethro." His demeanor relaxed slightly.

"I don't want them to be hurt."

"I don't either. But, as Kate so rightly said," she laughed softly, "they are both adults. They can choose for themselves."

"I have my rules for a reason." At this, she turned sad.

"Yes. I guess so."He could hear her sorrow, and it broke is heart.

"What happened to you, Jen?" She was different since she became Director.

"I found the perfect man." He almost didn't hear her. He wished that he didn't. It wasn't what he wanted to hear.

"What happened?" He said it like he was disgusted, but he was honestly curious. Curious as to whether or not to kill the man, or merely beat him up.

"I let him go." This time she said it so quiet, he actually didn't hear her.

"What?"

"Nothing, Jethro. I'm going home." She grabbed her papers and bustled past him.

'What the hell was that about?' He asked himself. It took a couple of hours for him to work out the meaning.

A/N I am becoming increasingly dissatisfied with my chapters. I'm planning on a few more chapters.


	7. Chapter 7

"You can all go."

Tony looked at his watch. It was only 5 o'clock! He looked across at Kate, she looked just as surprised as he did.

"Katie, do you want to get some dinner?" He took pleasure in the fact that Gibbs' demeanor stiffened.

"Yeah. Sure. Ziva, want to join us?" Tony was surprised at Kate's question.

"No, thank you. I've got plans."

"Hot date?" Tony wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. The Israeli looked pointedly at Kate, who promptly punched him. Tony put on his best 'I'm hurt' expression.

"Is this the way it's going to work from now on? You are hurting my feelings. Hmph." He crossed his arms and turned around, looking incredibly like a three year old. Kate rolled her eyes and brushed past him.

"Have fun, Ziva." When she got to the elevator, she called out to Tony. "You don't have a car, DiNozzo."

He got the point and hurriedly grabbed his stuff, sliding in just as the doors slid shut.

"Where to, Kate?"

"I don't know, you pick."

"Hmmmmm, Ooh! Ooh! I know!" He bounced up and down, once again looking a lot like a little kid.

"There was this awesome Chinese place right down the road from here! It was amazing!"

"Do you still remember where it is?" she asked skeptically.

"Of course, Kate." He replied, looking offended.

Half an hour later, they were lost.

"I know it was around here somewhere."

"Tony, we are lost."

"No, we are not."

"Yes, we are."

"I don't get lost."

"You just did."

"Did not."

"Did too."

"Did not."

"Did too."

"Did not."

She punched him. "Did too. Lets just go there." She said, pointing to a hole in the wall Italian place.

Tony's tone turned cold. "No."

Kate was puzzled. "Why not?"

"I've eaten Italian every day for the past year. Not now." His tone left no room for discussion.

Kate understood. "Ooh! Lets go there!" She quickly changed the subject, pointing to a random restaurant.

"That's it, Kate! That's the Chinese place!"

"Really? Cool."

They had a really great meal. Kate did most of the talking, catching Tony up on the cases and news of the past year in which he had been unaware of the outside world. She tried to ask him about what he had been doing, but he evaded her questions and she soon dropped the subject, though she was burning with curiosity. Eventually, they called for a check. The ride home was spent in silence, both were thinking about the night to come.

"Hey, Kate, where do you live?" Tony asked suddenly.

"Right here." She said, pulling up to a medium sized brownstone apartment building.

"Oh." He sounded subdued.

Kate didn't call him on it. She led him up to the third floor, apartment 302.

"So, you want to watch a movie?" He smiled.

"Well, that depends. What movies do you have?"

"Well, what kinds of movies have you watched?"

"Whatever I wanted…" He said warily.

"Then I have only chick flicks. Do you want Steel Magnolias or the Color Purple?"

He stole death glances at her.

"Steel Magnolias, then." She smiled at him as she put in the movie. "I know I've got some ice cream somewhere. Let me go get it." She came back a minute later with two bowls of chocolate ice cream.

"Chocolate, Kate. My favorite!" she couldn't help but notice the lack of her nickname. She couldn't tell why, since it had always annoyed her in the past, but she missed it.

Kate had a sectional "L"- shaped couch. Tony sat on one part of the L, Kate on the other, their heads at the connecting point.

About halfway through the movie, Kate heard silent sobs. _"That's odd. We're not even to the sad part yet. And Tony doesn't cry."_

"Tony? What's wrong?"

"Nothing, Kate." His tone was shaky.

"Oh, come on. Don't give me that, Tony. I know you're lying." She got up and sat next to Tony. "What's wrong?"

He took a few deep breaths. "They made me kill a man, Kate."

Kate was surprised and didn't know what to say. However, she also knew that sometimes it was best not to say anything. So, she just held him as he talked.

"I mean, I know that he was probably a criminal, but that doesn't make it any better. I took an innocent man's life, Kate. How can I live with myself?"

"Sometimes, you have to do what you have to do. You didn't have much choice, Tony. I know that doesn't make it any better, but it's true. I hate to say it, but I'm glad you killed him. Otherwise, you wouldn't be here. They probably would've killed you."

"Thanks, Kate." They lay together like that, him behind, her in front, her head on his arm and his other arm around her waist, until they woke up the next morning.

**(-: …NCIS… :-)**

Across the city, Jennifer Shepard was startled out of her doze by a loud knocking on her door.

"Who the hell would be knocking?" She was mad at whoever it was. She had just got some precious sleep.

"Listen, mister… oh." The man was Gibbs. "Of course." She smiled.

Wordlessly, he held up a brown paper bag. "I brought food."

"You know, you can't just waltz in here."

"I brought food." He repeated, as if it explained everything and gave him an in. She conceded his point and opened the door.

"I'll get the bourbon."

She disappeared into the study as he went into the dining room and laid out the food.

"Nice choice, Jethro."

He tilted his head and smiled, both agreeing with her and making her smile in return.

"Thanks, Jethro. This is really nice."

"Yeah. Great teriyaki, huh?"

"Amazing. Absolutely amazing."

She couldn't help keeping her eyes and thoughts from turning to him.

_Stop it, Jennifer! He doesn't think of you that way. Shut up!_

Little did she know that Gibbs was also thinking similar thoughts.

_What if you got it wrong? What if she was talking about someone else? It's worth a shot, right? What if she rejects you? Crap, crap. Oh well. You're here. Might as well make the best of it._

"Here, I'll help you with the dishes." He offered. "You wash, I'll dry?"

She nodded and they got to work. Soon, the temptation became too much, though, and Jen flicked him with water. He reached under the still-running faucet and flicked her back. The squabble soon escalated into a full-fledged water fight, and didn't stop until Jenny suddenly kissed Jethro. At first, he was too surprised to do much of anything, but it didn't take long for him to kiss her back with passion.

"Are you sure, Jen?"

In way of answer, she kissed him again. They ran upstairs and the night ended as all of these nights inevitably end.

A/N Okay, what do you think?


	8. Chapter 8

Kate woke up reluctantly. She did not want her dream to end. She, once again, had dreamed of Tony. Except this time, it seemed so real. She dreamed that he had come back from the dead. That wasn't new. Neither was the fact that they had gotten together. She would be lying to herself if she didn't admit how many times that had happened in her dream.

No, what was new this time was the plausibility of it. Usually, she had dreams that involved him being captured by Hates, The Mad Hatter, of him entering the new reality TV show: "See How Badly I Can Screw Up People's Lives! (The 'pretend I'm dead' version.)" No, this time it seemed real.

_And that only makes it worse._

She was interrupted by a loud groan from behind her. She froze.

_Wait a minute…._

"Tony?"

"Were you expecting someone else?" He mumbled sleepily, then grinned, his eyes still closed. "Katie, what have you been doing?"

She chuckled half-heartedly. She didn't want to admit that she hadn't dated anyone since Tony had died. Every man she had seen reminded her in some way. But, Tony's were always better. "Those eyes are almost the same color, but Tony's are greener." Or "The hair is tousled the same way, but it looked better on Tony." The comparisons went on and on. She wished she could move on, but she didn't seem to be able to.

_But none of that matters now. He actually was back!_

"Kate?" His eyes were wide, concern in his voice. It took her a second to realize that she was laughing uncontrollably, for no apparent reason.

"You're… back!" she gasped out, still laughing.

"Yes… Kate, are you okay?"

"I'm fine." She stopped laughing and kissed him.

He eventually pulled back. "Kate, seriously, are you okay? You're acting really strange."

"I'm fine. I've never been better."

"Okay…."

"Come on! Let's get some breakfast."

"Food!"

They bounded up and went into the fridge.

"Pancakes!"

"Yeah, that sounds good."

They had quite a time making the pancakes. They messed up the batter more than once (how anybody manages to mess up pancakes is beyond me, but they did it.) By the time they finished cooking, well over an hour had passed and both were starving.

"So," Kate started with a full mouth "What do you want to do today?"

"I was hoping we could go shopping. I need clothes, shoes, movies, dishes, furniture, a TV, food, a car, and an apartment, to start."  
"Tall order."

"Yes, but we don't have to do it all today."

"Alrighty, then. Let me take a shower and we can leave."

"Not quite. I need a shower too."

"I call first!"

"Okay."

After their showers and plenty of bickering as to who would drive, with Kate winning, they were on their way.

"Hey Tony, how are you going to pay for all this?"

He handed her the rumpled paper that Jenny had given him yesterday.

She looked at it quickly as they were waiting at a stoplight.

$401, 561!

"What the hell, Tony?"

"The Director sold all of my stuff and apparently I got a bonus."

"No kidding."

"First stop: the bank? I need a card." He grinned at her.

"Uh, yeah, sure."

After an infuriatingly long time in bank lines, Tony had a new debit card.

"So, where to next? This is your life we're rebuilding."

"Clothes. I need clothes."  
"The mall it is."

They found a parking spot eventually and walked into the mall.

"What's your favorite store?"

"Ummmmm, I don't really have one. Usually I just walk along until I see something interesting."

"Okay."

The first 'interesting' thing was Old Navy.

"They have the best jeans here." So, he ran in and bought 6 pairs of jeans, 2 pairs of shorts, and several t-shirts. Right after they left, he ran into the nearest bathroom. It took him a second, but he reemerged free of the old sweats and ratty t-shirt Kate had given him, wearing a new pair of jeans and a light blue t-shirt.

"Onward, for Camelot!"

Kate gave him her best you-are-an-immature-child-and-the-weirdest-person-I-know look.

"Oh, come on! Haven't you ever seen that movie? It's a classic-"

"Don't want to hear it."

"But-"

"No."

"Fine."

By the time Tony decided he had enough clothes, he had 5 suits, over 20 shirts, 15 pairs of pants, and a whole truckload of underwear, boxers, and ties, not to mention the shoes. The underwear shopping was awkward, to say the least. The situation was not helped by the fact that Tony asked Kate's advice on every new thing he saw, while she pointedly looked at everything else possible. When a poor clerk asked them why they were buying so much stuff, they told him Tony had come back from the dead. He went white as a sheet and the laughing pair quickly exited the shop.

Finally, after much shoving and stuffing, all his stuff was in Kate's small coup and they were heading back to her apartment.

"Will you go out to dinner and a movie with me tonight?" Tony asked suddenly.

"Like a real date?"

"Yeah, like our first real date."

"I'd love to." Tony's face lit up in a huge smile.

"Great, let's plan to leave at six. That's in…. Holy Crap! We spent longer at the mall than I thought. That's in a half an hour."

"Oh, okay. Let me get dressed, then."

A half an hour later, they both walked out of their respective dressing rooms: him from the tiny bathroom off the kitchen and her from her bedroom. They both saw each other at the same time.

"Wow, Kate… you look… wow." Kate did look amazingly beautiful in a classic little black dress. He didn't look too bad himself, in dark slacks and dark blue button-down shirt.

They went to a classy downtown French restaurant. They had fun ordering, trying to find out what each menu item was. Unbeknownst to Kate, Tony could actually speak French and was leading her on. She had a great surprise when the waiter arrived and he and Tony had a nice long conversation in a language completely foreign to Kate. She stayed mock-mad at him until the food arrived and then decided it wasn't worth the trouble. All in all, they ended up adding it to the ever-growing list of things that had been good since they had got together.

After the restaurant they went to a movie theater and chose to see the newest Bond flick, Tony's favorite series. They paid for popcorn and went to the theater. They were surprised to find that there was only one other person in the already-dark theater. Tony had a weird feeling in his gut, but quickly shook it off.

(-: **NCIS** :-)

Across the city, Jen was awakened by the ring of her cell phone. It took her a second, but she remembered the events of the day, or rather the lack thereof. She smiled as she remembered what she and Gibbs had been doing, and was almost going to go back to bed, until she realized the ringing was coming from her emergencies-only cell.

"Director!"

"What, Cynthia?"

"One of the prisoners from the DiNozzo op escaped!"

"Shit! Which one?"

"Gregory."

"Thanks, Cynthia."

She snapped her phone shut and turned around to Gibbs to tell him, but he was already half-dressed, apparently he had heard.

"I'll drive." He said, and she nodded. Normally, she would argue, but this was different.

In ten minutes, they were both out the door and Jen was furiously dialing Kate's number.

(-: **NCIS** :-)

Kate was startled by the jangling of her phone.

_Dammit! I forgot to turn it off._

She was about to hit 'ignore' when she looked at the screen.

_Why would the director be calling me?_

She looked furtively at the seat where the other guy was, but he was gone. She picked up the phone.

"Hello?" she whispered.

"Kate! Where are you?!" Jenny sounded very distressed.

"5th st. theaters, why?"

"Get back to the office now. Bring Tony with you. We have an emergency with his brother…"

"Who are you talking to, Kate?" a deep voice said from behind her. Her blood froze.

She felt tony jump up and reach for his gun, only to realize that it wasn't there: They hadn't given him a new one yet. She stood and grabbed her Sig from her purse.

"Gregory." Tony said it like the foulest of expletives. She heard a muttered curse and the screeching of tires as she assumed Gibbs turned around. She dropped the phone, making sure it was still on.

"Tony, little brother. You made a grave mistake." She saw him cock the pistol in his hands.

"How did you escape?" Kate asked, trying to keep him talking.

"Easy. I wasn't on the campus when it was raided."

"You were my tail." Tony concluded.

"Very good, little brother. I've been following you the past couple of days. Now I have my opportunity." His face turned cold. "You shouldn't have done that. Do you realize how long we DiNozzos have been building that empire?" He was shouting now. "Three generations! You betrayed us! How dare you!"

Kate was trained as Secret Service to figure out when somebody was going to shoot. Later, as a Special Agent, she had honed that skill to an art.

As she saw the telltale signs on Gregory's face, she tried to intervene.

Three shots. Kate felt fiery pain shoot through her body as she heard an ominous crack. Then she let the darkness consume her.

A/N Ha ha ha! I'm evil! Yay!


	9. Chapter 9

Gibbs was driving over twice the legal limit. Jen knew this, knew how damaging it would be to either of them if they were pulled over, but she couldn't bring herself to care. In fact, she was almost willing him to go faster. They pulled up the same time as the medics and police.

Bursting through the doors, they ran into the theater and quickly found Tony and Kate. Thankfully, their pulses were still there, though Tony's was faint. The other man was also still alive, too, but he was even farther gone than Tony.

Leroy Jethro Gibbs was not accustomed to feeling helpless. He always could do something. But not this time. This time, he could do nothing but watch as the medics pulled them all into gurneys, and it was killing him.

He followed the ambulance all the way to Bethesda, almost willing somebody to pull him over just so he could yell at someone.

Jen, always the calm one, was making phone calls. He assumed that she was alerting everyone else. Ducky, McGee, Abby, Ziva.

They got to the hospital and once again, all they could do was sit and watch helplessly. Eventually, the team filed in. Gibbs paced, only moving from his circle to get fresh coffee. Jen also consumed the caffeine, but she sat down, again the calm one. McGee held Abby through her tears, and Ziva sharpened her knives.

"Family of Caitlin Todd, Anthony DiNozzo, and Gregory DiNozzo?" The five of them jumped to their feet.

"Yes?" They all chorused.

The doctor looked at them strangely, then shrugged his shoulders. This was the weirdest group he had seen so far, but he had seen his share of strangeness in his years as an ER doctor.

"Caitlin was shot in the shoulder. Her bone was shattered, it will need time to repair, but she'll be fine. Anthony was shot in the stomach. The bullet tore his intestinal lining, and we did extensive surgery to repair that. Unfortunately, he suffered blunt force trauma. His brain pressure is very elevated, but we can't alleviate it because we can't get in there safely. As a result, he is in a coma. We don't know when, or if, he'll wake up. I'm sorry to say that Gregory died on the operating table. He was shot just below the heart cavity and we couldn't save him. I'm sorry."

"I'm not." Gibbs growled. "He shot my agents. Is Kate up?"

The doctor was taken aback. "Ummm, no. She's heavily sedated. She'll be up in a few hours."

"Thanks, Doc." He turned to the rest of them. "You can go home, everyone. I'll call you with news."

Not surprisingly, no one left.

Jen smiled softly. "They're really loyal. You've trained them well, Jethro."

Gibbs smiled in return. "Thanks, Jen."

They all stayed like that for two hours, forty-three minutes, and sixteen seconds (but hey, who's counting? Abby!)

"Kate is awake, if you want to see her. No more than three at a time, though." Gibbs, McGee, and Abby went through first.

"Hi, Kate." Gibbs smiled. "How're you feeling?"

"It hurts. But where is Tony?"

Gibbs face fell a little. "He's in a coma."

"Oh."

Abby was trying to find a way to hug Kate. She settled for hugging her legs.

"Kate, oh Kate! You scared me soooooo bad!"

"Sorry, Abby! Please don't break my legs!"

"Sorry."

"Kate, what happened?" Gibbs asked.

"Gregory shot Tony, I shot him, he shot me."

"He's dead."

"Good riddance."

"Actually, he's lucky he died. Gibbs would've given him worse." McGee noted.

"I wish I would've been given a chance with him. He would've never known what hit him. Oh, well. Are you okay, Kate?"

"I will be."

"Good."

Gibbs went and sat in the armless plastic chair by her bed. McGee sat next to him, with Abby on his lap. A second later, Jen and Ziva came in. They both talked to Kate for a minute. Jen went to sit with Gibbs, and Ziva took the only remaining chair at the foot of Kate's bed.

Abby stole a sideways glance at Jen and Jethro.

_I knew it._ She thought smugly.

A half an hour later, they were all asleep.

(-: **NCIS** :-)

Kate was released from the hospital three days later.

Tony still wasn't up.

She went to visit him every day, though. She would talk to him, encourage him to wake up. Abby and Gibbs came in every other day, alternating days.

McGee came in every three days or so, as did Ducky and Jen.

They all hoped, they all dreamed that he would wake up.

Tony slept on.

I am not a Tony hater. It will get better, I promise.


	10. Chapter 10

The being felt detached from everything. It felt as if it were free-floating in a world of darkness. It was happy this way: there was nothing to do, there was nothing period. It started to realize that it had a body. It started to feel. First it regained basic feelings, such as temperature. Then, it started to recognize the different feels. It could tell the difference from the rough, calloused skin that came every now and then from the soft skin that seemed to be there the most often.

Finally, it started to hear. It heard a familiar voice, calling something over and over. It was saying "Tony… Tony… Tony." Yes, Tony. That was his name.

Last, he felt the pain. The pain grew as his awareness did. Finally the pain became too much to bear. He snapped.

Tony hurt. His head hurt. His body hurt. Everywhere hurt.

Experimentally, he opened his eyes.

_Ow, ow, ow! Bad idea._ He quickly shut them again. The light hurt, too. As did noise. It was like his worst hangover.

He realized that a voice was talking agitatedly next to him. The voice was very high-pitched and felt like daggers being driven into his skull.

_Please, please, please shut up._

He was about to say this when he realized that he knew that voice, knew it well.

"Kate?"

"Tony! Tony!"

"Kate, please, please be _quiet_."

"Sorry, Tony." She quickly started to whisper. "How are you feeling?"

"Need… water." He rasped.

She jump up and press a bottle to his lips. He drank greedily.

"Thanks, Kate. Where am I?"

"What was the last thing you remember?"

"I was… um…" his face screwed up in thought. "I was going to sleep on the director's couch." He decided.

Kate's face fell. "Oh. Okay. I'll, um, I'll call the doctors. They're going to want to know you're up."

Tony was confused. "Kate? Kate!" But she was already gone.

Kate tried hard not to cry. She held back the tears as she alerted the team, alerted the doctors. Eventually, she let them fall. She had got him back for a few hours. Just a few hours. Oh, cruel fate.

Sure, he was alive, at least that was a start.

Once again, the team trickled in, greeting Tony, then coming to sit with Kate.

Abby was first.

"Kate, why are you crying? You should be happy." The young Goth was concerned. Her voice softened. "He was asking about you. You should go see him.

This brought on a fresh wave of tears. "He doesn't remember." She cried.

"Oh." Abby understood.

The rest of them visited Tony then went home. Kate was last. Tentatively, she walked towards his room.

"Tony?"

"Kate! Where were you?!"

"Outside."

"I was worried about you."

She went and sat by his bed.

"Kate, what did I miss? I know it was something important."

She sighed. "It was nothing, Tony."

"I don't believe you."

"Well, it really was nothing. So drop it."

"Okay." He knew there was something going on, but he decided to put it off until later. "I missed you, Katie."

She cried some more and laid her head on his chest. "I missed you too."

They fell asleep like that, and weren't disturbed until Gibbs came in with his morning coffee.

**A/N **I am not a Tony hater. It may seem like it, but I'm not. It will get better, I promise.

BTW Sorry for the shortness. But, there are two short ones today!


	11. Chapter 11

The pair was still sleeping as Gibbs came in. He smiled.

_They do look kinda good together. _He admitted to himself reluctantly.

Showing his rarely seen soft side, he went to the other side of the room and waited for them to wake up.

Kate's back hurt. She slowly woke up and stretched. Tony woke up, too.

"Good morning, sleepyhead." He said.

"Good morning yourself."

"Thanks, Kate."

"For what?"

"Sleeping with me." He grinned the familiar 'I-made-a-joke' grin.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Oh please, Tony. Your mind is consistently in gutterville, you're too dirty to sleep with."

"That hurts, Kate. That really hurts."

She rolled her eyes. "I'm going for coffee."

"No need, Kate. Drinking hospital coffee is almost worse than going without." Gibbs said quietly, offering a cup to Kate.

The pair was startled out of their wits by the quiet voice: they hadn't noticed him before.

"Boss! Don't do that!" Tony exclaimed.

He shrugged.

"I have to get back to the office. Kate, you have the day off."

"Thanks, boss."

He smiled and sipped his coffee as he left.

Kate went home for a quick shower then she and Tony spent the day watching old movies, playing cards and other games, Kate reading while Tony slept. They had a lot of fun.

Kate looked at her watch near the end of the day as they were playing poker.

"Oh, I've got to go. I'm sure Gibbs won't let me off a second day."

"Do you have to?" Tony whined.

"Unfortunately, yes. I'll stop by tomorrow before and after work."

"Okay." He pouted. She gathered up her things.

"Bye, Tony." She went to the door and hesitated, looking back him. She looked torn for a moment, then rushed back to his side and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. He jerked backwards.

"I'm sorry; I don't know what I was thinking…" She turned to go.

"No, Kate, stay." He grabbed her arm and she turned back around, her head down.

He rubbed his temples. "I… I… I remember! I remember!" He laughed for a second then pulled her back down for a heart-stopping kiss.

He pulled back.

"I love you, Kate."

Her heart leapt. She smiled tenderly.

"I love you too, Tony."

"Really?"

"Yes. I am heart-stopping, totally-breathless, spinning-out-of-control, leave-me-begging-for-more-even-when-you're-annoying-as-all-hell in love with you."

"Me too, Kate. Me too."

She lay down next to him on the narrow bed.

"I guess I could stay for a little while longer."

He laughed.

Of course, they ended up sleeping that way again.

This time, it was a doctor who came in the morning.

"Excuse me, Mr. Dinozzo-"

They were startled awake.

"Oh, I'm sorry, should I come back?"

Kate sighed as she got up and brushed herself off.

"I was going to say that we would like to keep you here one more night to double check that everything's okay and you can go home tomorrow."

"I'm leaving today."

"Well, I'd rather you stayed one more night."

"I'll sign whatever you want, but I want to go home today."

The doctor shook his head.

"Alright. I guess you can. I'll send in a nurse with your paperwork. But, someone has to stay with you. You can't be by yourself."

"I can get the day off." Kate piped up.

"Okay. You have to sign some forms too." He walked out, muttering "Damn navy cops. Never change."

Kate smiled at Tony.

"Hey, what happened to 'I'm sure Gibbs won't let me get the day off'?"

"If Gibbs says no, I'll go to the Director."

"Yup. That'll work."

"Definitely. You ready to go?"

"Let's get the hell out of Dodge."

She laughed as she led him out of the hospital and into her car.

**(-: NCIS :-)**

**Epilogue**

"Anthony DiNozzo! I am going to kill you!"

"That's it, honey. Get it all out."

"You are so lucky hospitals don't allow guns!"

"I know. I know."

This was starting to get on his nerves.

_HELP!!!! My hand is going to break._

Kate screamed one last time and then the sound of a newborn baby filled the air.

Kate sighed in relief. She wanted to hold her so bad, but the doctors took her away to clean her. Finally, the baby was placed in her arms.

She looked into her daughter's face and smiled.

_Life is good._

_Fin_

Finished! Finally!


End file.
